Trump calls Wisconsin election recount a ‘scam’

WasHington: Donald Trump called a recount of votes being prepared in Wisconsin a scam, insisting that his presidential win should be respected, not “challenged and abused.”

The recount, which was requested by Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who received a minute fraction of the total vote, flew in the face of an election “that has already been conceded,” Trump said on Saturday.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign said it would join the recount although it has not seen any irregularities so far in the White House contest won by Trump.

Marc Erik Elias, an election lawyer for the Democratic candidate, said in a post on Medium.com that the campaign would also participate in recounts in the closely contested states of Michigan and Pennsylvania if they are arranged.

Stein has also announced plans to seek recounts in those two states.

In a statement, Trump asserted that “the people have spoken and the election is over, and as Hillary Clinton herself said on election night, in addition to her conceding by congratulating me, ‘We must accept this result and then look to the future.’”

Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, won Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by a total of just over 100,000 votes. The razor-thin victories in those states pushed him above the 270 votes needed for victory in the Electoral College.

“It is important to point out that with the help of millions of voters across the country, we won 306 electoral votes on Election Day – the most of any Republican since 1988,” Trump said.

“This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused, which is exactly what Jill Stein is doing,” Trump added.

However, during the campaign Trump himself threatened to reject the result if he lost, alleging that the race was “rigged” by the media and the establishment elite.

Elias, the Clinton counsel, said that “because we had not uncovered any actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology, we had not planned to exercise this option ourselves.”

“But now that a recount has been initiated in Wisconsin, we intend to participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides,” he added.

It was not immediately clear how the Clinton campaign plans to take part in the recount. — AFP